Felipe Massa claims handing Fernando Alonso victory at the 2010 German GP was one of the ‘saddest days’ in his life

Felipe Massa has suffered from some major biased team orders in his history in Formula 1.

Felipe Massa claims handing Fernando Alonso victory at the 2010 German GP was one of the ‘saddest days’ in his life

Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso (via IMAGO)

The Hungarian GP saw a lot of dramatic events over the entire course of the race. Notably, McLaren had some issues with strategy and had to force Lando Norris to let Oscar Piastri through and hand the latter his maiden victory.

This decision wasn’t easily accepted by Norris as he didn’t let the Aussie through until the end. Hence, upon this, Felipe Massa recalled the 2010 German GP where he had to hand the victory to Fernando Alonso.

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Felipe Massa was a highly capable driver during his time and has scored some highly impressive race wins. However, one incident at the 2009 Hungarian GP saw a drastic accident with Massa and his life changed forever since then. The Brazilian driver never won a race ever after that colossal crash. Regardless, the 43-year-old recalled one moment in the 2010 German GP where he had to give up his race victory.

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FIA had banned the team orders of letting drivers swap positions by the 2002 season. However, Massa’s race engineer hinted the driver to let Alonso past him as he was quicker on the racing line. As a result, the Brazilian driver had to accept the team order and put a disappointing end to his highly dominant outing at the 2010 German GP.

Felipe Massa recalled the incident to be the ‘saddest day’ in his life after allowing Fernando Alonso to overtake him and win the 2010 German GP. Hence, the 43-year-old later faced a very different situation in his life and never came much closer to winning a race in Formula 1.

Unfortunately I was denied victory in Germany, in the race that took place exactly one year after my accident, on July 25, 2010. That was one of the saddest days of my life. After that, I experienced a different period, because I no longer had a competitive car to compete for victories as I did before.
Felipe Massa said, as reported by Motorsport.
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Felipe Massa claims he ‘values’ his life much more after 2009 accident

Formula 1 wasn’t always as safe as it has become in recent times. The drivers would quite literally fight for their lives on the circuit while also trying to score race wins. Hence, after the horrifying accident in 2009, Massa recounted about his feelings and thoughts after recovering from the injuries.

Sebastian Vettel leading Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Felipe Massa during the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (IMAGO / ZUMA Press)
Sebastian Vettel leading Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Felipe Massa during the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (IMAGO / ZUMA Press)

Massa pointed out that he started valuing his life own and even other’s life a lot after coming out alive from the track as he was ‘grateful’ for this life.

What I can say is that today I respect life much more—both my own and other people's. Because you never think anything is going to happen, but when it does, you value life much more. I value mine one-hundred percent, and I'm grateful for it every day.
Felipe Massa added

Regardless of the disappoitment for race drivers to give up their victory, sometimes playing the team game is more important. The Hungarian GP was one such race where it was important for Norris to let Oscar Piastri through. Hence, the team will look over their strategies and blunders and ensure such a situation never arises again.

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